Stares
by Chromical
Summary: A seven-foot suit of armor /has/ to attract attention while walking around town.  Oneshot. Brotherly love, NOT Elricest. Rated T  for slight bad language. Alphonse-centric.


**A/N: This is just a short 'a day in the life moment' oneshot. I was trying to experiment with the whole "show, don't tell" method at first, and then the rest just happened. XD I don't think it's too great, personally. Enjoy anyways!**

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As Alphonse walked through the train station with his brother, he could almost sense the stares of everyone around him.

Some stares were sharp and severe (those were the ones that stood out the most), as if the person staring was trying to burn a hole in Al's body with their eyes. They mostly came from big, strong men (who, even in their size did not even compare to Alphonse's own) and concerned mothers.

Speaking of concerned mothers, their children were staring too. Or at least the ones who were old enough to stare were. The eldest ones glared at Al exactly like their mothers, vindictive and ignorant. The smaller ones would even point and yell.

"Mommy, I'm scared!" a little boy who seemed to barely be out of diapers cried. He clung to her pantsleg until she picked him up and scurried off to a train somewhere, all the while giving Alphonse one of those _'how-dare-you-scare-my-son'_ glares.

"Wow, Dada, he's so big!" a seemingly fascinated seven-year-old with black pigtails exclaimed. Her mother quickly shushed her, and Alphonse could barely hear her frantic whispers of 'it's not polite to point'. He knew that they were there, though. They always were, even if the parents didn't really mean it. The parents were just trying to keep the seemingly dangerous, unstable man in the suit of armor from attacking them.

A particularly nice little girl with big green eyes and frizzy red hair simply glanced at Alphonse and went on her way. That was, quite possibly, the most positive reaction he had gotten to his body all day. He always liked it when people didn't pay too much attention to him.

But after that, the mean comments and stares came back with a vengeance. The innocent yells and shouts of before quickly became taunts and insults. With every mutter and rude remark, Alphonse could see Edward getting angrier and angrier.

Just then, a large pack of teenage girls whispering and giggling to themselves went by. Upon seeing Alphonse, they all stopped in their tracks and their giggling got louder. Eventually, a confident-looking blonde who seemed to be the leader of the group dragged a meek brunette over to meet the brothers- specifically, Alphonse.

"Heyy, uh, can I, like, tell you something?" the blonde said in a grating, _'I'm-making-my-voice-high-pitched-to-be-cute!'_ tone. Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "That's armor makes you look, like, really scary. You should totally take it off- I bet you'd be, like, a total hunk." The two girls giggled.

"I look scary?" Alphonse said quietly, devastated. It was simply the last straw for Edward, who stomped over to the girl and stared up straight into her face.

"Leave my little brother alone," he snapped. "He can't help that he's this big, and you taunt him for it? Pathetic." The blonde paled for a moment, but quickly regained her confidence.

"You're the older one? Yeah right, _pipsqueak_," she snorted.

"THAT TEARS IT!" Ed bellowed, and before Al could lean forward to restrain him he had pulled the girl down to his level by her shirt. "Listen to me, you, you, _YOU_-" Ed cried, his voice cracking on the last 'you'. He took a long deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down. "Don't judge people by their looks- _Especially_ my brother," he hissed, venom filling every syllable. Ed let go of the girl's shirt, and her breathing eased. "You're lucky I don't hit girls."

The blonde scurried off with her friend, terrified.

"You didn't have to do that... it doesn't really bother me anymore," Al lied. "I'm used to it."

"I can tell you're lying, Al," Ed chuckled while shaking his head. "You never were a good liar." His face went solemn again. " It bothers me too." Ed looked up at one of the clocks near them, and quickly picked up his luggage. "Shit, Al! We're gonna miss our train!" He darted towards a platform much farther down in the station, and Al quickly followed suit.

"Brother, you don't need to curse!" Al scolded as they ran.

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**A/N: So, how did you like it? Review, and tell me what I did well and what I could do better!**


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